Film adaption of Philip Pullmans`book "His Dark Materials"

doctor evil

I really enjoyed those three books, the first one "The Golden Compass" is being made into a film to be released in Dec 07.

As far as I`m aware the producers are leaving out all aspects of religion which is IMO vital to the plot. I wonder how good the film will be?, now that the plot is solely about a girl finding her friend with well funded special effects.

www.goldencompassmovie.com

Had a play on the website, my daemon is Pelloneous, a Gibbon.

Crucifix

Daniel Craig's beard looks kind of weird...
It'd certainly be neutered without the religious aspect, particularly if they do the sequels.

Fysh

I'm curious as to how Pullman feels about this, since his own description of the trilogy was that it was his attempt to do something in the vein of Milton's Paradise Lost. So without the whole religion aspect it becomes meaningless.

There again, maybe his view is "They've given me a wagonload of cash for the license, and the books will still remain as I wrote them so who cares what happens with the films?".

Mind you, I remember really liking book 1 & 2, then hating the ending of book 3 so I probably won't be watching this anyway...

Aldebaran

Loved the books, they were great but i can't see how they're gonna remove the whole religious element. They might be able to sweep it under the carpet for the first two but definitely not for the third, maybe they're just not gonna bother with the sequels.

doctor evil

Sequels seem to be the thing at the mo, who knows maybe a recession will put paid to it.

Whats irks me is that they are leaving the religious element purely to play it safe and not cause any offence. PC gone mad.

ella minnow pea

It's not technically been totally neutered; more like The Magisterium (sp?) is more like a metaphor for the church rather than being overtly called one.

This is what Philip had to say about it at the Oxford Literary Festival a few weeks ago:

Mark Lawson [Chair]: What about the film's anti-religion theme?

Philip Pullman: Not anti-religion, but anti-oppression, anti-authoritarian. It's opposed to the use of theocracy for political gain. The Church in Lyra's world is very different from our own, as many things are.

Deborah Forte [Producer, attached to the project since NL came out I think]: I feel the story's main concept themes are love, courage, responsibility and honour.

Mark Lawson: But the story dramatises the death of God?

Deborah Forte: Not the death of God but the death of oppressive authority.

PP seems to be very involved in the whole project, even going as far as to say that 'all the essential elements are there' which means a) it is going to be the film I really really really hope it will, or b) he got paid so much he no longer cares.

The whole thing seems to have been dogged by problems, switching directors and screen writers more than you would clean knickers.

But knowing PP I doubt he will allow a terrible adaption to be made. He seems better than that. And if it's crap, he can no longer slag off Narnia :rolleyes:

Pedantic aside: How funny is it that so many people on message boards who don't know the books are all asking 'So, is this like Narnia?'

I really hope this is good. I grew up with the books. And the clip on the website is very promising...

qwertplaywert

cant see this being a very watchable movie,shame, was a sensationnal book series
might re-read today

TheIrishGrover

For me the casting has been spot on: Craig as Azrael, Nicole Kidman as Miss Coulter, Eva Green as Serafina, Sam Elliot as Lee, unknown as Lyra. They've apparently toned down the oppressiveness of the church, instead, making it look more like a fascist state from the pics seen. (Very military uniforms etc). The main problem though is going to be in the next two books. Remember that the church was only really referred to as being oppressive in the first one. It's really in Knife and Spyglass that they get going (As far as I can remember). The REALLY worrying thing though is that they've not given the greenlight for the other books. But, saying that, Newline has an awful lot riding on this so at least they'll push it hard. (They're biggest budget for a single movie. 170 mill apparently)

There's a great website here: http://www.bridgetothestars.net

Has good articles, pics etc.

Also, here's the first poster for it: http://www.empireonline.com/images/image_index/hw800/19102.jpg

doctor evil

For some reason I`m not convinced by Craig as Azrael, I don`t know why, hes not enough like a lion. Big, strong and imposing.

qwertplaywert

eva green...... man, bad choice imo, thought she was awful in casino royale

TheIrishGrover

qwertplaywert wrote:

eva green...... man, bad choice imo, thought she was awful in casino royale

no. You're wrong. lol

qwertplaywert

thanks for correcting me and my radical ways..........

TheIrishGrover

qwertplaywert wrote:

thanks for correcting me and my radical ways..........

lol. No probs.

monkeyfudge

Everyone was awful in Casino Royale!

And why the f*ck is it called the Golden Compass? It's a while since I read the book but the Alethiometer is hardly a compass.

I can't see this film working at all... I can't stand Kidman either.

TheIrishGrover

monkeyfudge wrote:

Everyone was awful in Casino Royale!

And why the f*ck is it called the Golden Compass? It's a while since I read the book but the Alethiometer is hardly a compass.

I can't see this film working at all... I can't stand Kidman either.

Golden Compass is the US title of the book. According to Pullman it's a referance to Paradise Lost which, of course, is related. It's not actually a compass as in the magnetic navigation thingy. It's actually supposed to be a compass as in what ya draw a circle with.

"Philip Pullman: "The trilogy known as HIS DARK MATERIALS didn't have that name in my mind from the start. In fact it didn't have a name at all; it was just 'the big book'. When I'd finished the first volume and was talking about it with David Fickling, my British publisher, we tried various names and couldn't find one that worked. I knew that the trilogy needed a name, and that each of the books needed its own separate name too (I don't like numbers in titles: THE GODFATHER PART TWO, and so on. Just a fad. But it's my fad). So: what should they be called?

My first discovery was the phrase THE GOLDEN COMPASSES (plural, note). This comes in Milton's Paradise Lost, a poem which inspired me a great deal. The line refers to the Son of God taking 'the golden compasses, prepared / In God's eternal store, to circumscribe / The universe, and all created things."

In other words, these were compasses to draw a circle with, not a compass to find your way with. I liked the phrase, and the trilogy became temporarily, during the publication process, The Goldem Compasses. And we finally settled on Northern Lights for the title of the first book.

Meanwhile, in the US, it was being read by the editors at Alfred A. Knopf. Someone decided (mistakenly, but firmly) that the title referred to Lyra's alethiometer, which could be regarded as a sort of golden compass, but of the direction-finding and not circle-drawing sort. So the same someone or another someone decided to refer to the first book, for their own internal discussing-a-forthcoming-book purposes, as THe GOLDEN COMPASS."


As for Nicole Kidman: Pullman himself he was thinking of her when he was writing the character.

ella minnow pea

I don't think he thought of her [Kidman] while writing the novel itself, more like he had her in mind when he found out the film was to be made.

Apparently, the editor who made it 'The Golden Compass' was the same one that changed 'HP and the Philosopher's Stone' (a title that made sense) in 'HP and the Sorceror's Stone' (which doesn't).

If I was American, I would be well pissed off and the constant condesending way stuff from Europe must be changed to suit their market. I mean, do they really think a book called Northern Lights wouldn't have sold as much as a book call The Golden Compass

I don't like the tag line on the poster, The Compass Will Show You The Way, as its not a feckin' map, jaysus.

TheIrishGrover

ella minnow pea wrote:

I don't like the tag line on the poster, The Compass Will Show You The Way, as its not a feckin' map, jaysus.

And it's not even a compass.......

colbertf

Glad to find this page and see that there's Irish interest & talk already about "The Golden Compass" - I'm actually finishing up work in the Animation dept at the primary visual fx house in Los Angeles and the production has gone wonderfully smooth working with New Line, it looks great, some recent changes & cuts (without giving away any details except to say many scenes were already completely animated) will probably eventually end up on the DVD and the scn cuts work well with the current story line.

Looking forward to making it back to Kilkenny for the general Irish opening weekend on December 7th.
---

TheIrishGrover wrote:

And it's not even a compass.......

your right, its an alethiometer

Karl Hungus

Thanks for chiming in, Colbertf. I'm looking forward to the film, as I really enjoyed the books.

film_gonzo

Just started reading these books recently. Only on the third now and I can honestly say that this is one of the movies that I'm most looking forward to in the coming months based on the cracking reads I've been having.

I think the casting was spot on (I can't see why people are coming down so hard on Eva Green and Nicole Kidman- hell if anyone can do icy cool, she can) and the trailer was fantastic. Can't wait to see Iorek Byrnison also. He's one of my favorite characters and that line "I have a contract with the child' sends shivers down my spine. I don't know why, feel it's best not to question these things.:P.

It's a pity they took out the Church and God element. I felt it was very brave of a kids book to deal with issues questioning the people who make the rules, especially the rules on what constitutes right and wrong. But with such a large section of the Church, especially in the States, partial to zealotry it's clear why the producers would rather avoid the negative press that would surely come its way if they left it in.